Mother of the Veil
by LittleLavenderIMP
Summary: Death will come. It can happen at any time, on any day. It cares not for you or how you feel. Death is a mischievous thing, as Nelliel soon realized. But by then It was already too late. Rated M for safety. Slight Dumbledore/Weasley bashing. Mild violence and strong language.
1. Chapter 1: Unexpected and Untimely Death

**Hey everyone! Nepe here, just wanted to let you all know that my first story is going to remain in hiatus for as long as necessary. I hit a wall in realizing that I need to practice writing something I'm more comfortable with. Thanks to my mother I grew up with Harry Potter movies and books shoved down my throat.**

 **Even though I make it sound worse than it is I'm fond of those stories. I will continue writing "On the Road Again" in the future, I just need a break.**

 **On another note, I have been planning this story for weeks now and since I'm out o** **f school I can do more of what I love, which is write. Please understand that I'll try and catch as many mistakes as I can in this one, however, I am only one person. I still make mistakes. If you see any please tell me!**

 **Description: Death may come. It can happen at any time, on any day. It cares not for you or how you feel. Death is a mischievous thing, as Nelliel soon realized. But by then It was already too late. Rated M for safety. Slight Dumbledore/Weasley bashing. Mild violence and strong language.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, that belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own my oc's. (I forgot this oh my goodness, I'm such a clutz! Please forgive me!)**

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 ***Parseltongue***

 _'Thinking'_

"Speaking"

 _=Whispering=_

 **Please Enjoy!**

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 **Chapter 1: Unexpected and Untimely Death**

I pushed my glasses upwards upon the bridge of my nose when they slipped and turned another page in the book I was reading for study. It was on the history of America. I grimaced. Why was I even trying to study? I absolutely hated it. I put the book down. I was already having trouble concentrating and I knew I wouldn't get very far if I continued. I was a junior in high school so I wasn't quite done with history. Not the hardest subject for me, that was math, but I have always had trouble with names and dates. I stood up from my chair and put the book back on its shelf three aisles away. I didn't want to leave the library empty handed though, the librarian would find that suspicious, I had been here for about four hours already and I was the only one left.

I picked up my bag and walked around for a bit. I picked a random book up from a nonfiction book case and flipped through it. It was about someone who was thrown into another fictional world and changed the fate of the protagonist for the best effectively becoming a protagonist in the process. I snorted in disgust. Too many people wrote about that sort of thing nowadays. It was okay at first, but then I guess everyone wanted to get lost in fictional worlds of their own creation and feel special. People were getting too wrapped up in the fictional process and were caring less and less about real people they cared about, effectively losing interest in leaving the house, getting jobs, supporting the economy and interacting with others around them. School is the only place other than shopping anyone can interact at now but the teachers all hate it and say things like school is a place for learning and they have time to do this on their own time. That's not true, at least not in the kid's eyes, there is only time for imagination and pretend. I'm not saying creativity, imagination, video games and technology should be completely erased, but there is a thing as too much. Too fast. Our race is advancing too fast to be healthy and no one from younger generations understand how to properly use their time.

It's like eating bologna for three weeks because that's all you can afford before you get your next paycheck.

You'll never want to touch it ever again.

I put the book back and almost missed the leather-back journal looking thing behind it. My face scrunched up in confusion. The Librarian wouldn't have missed this and I'm the only one still here. I reached back and picked it up, carefully inspecting it for a name. It looked like there used to be one but it got rubbed off over time. It looked old and the pages appeared yellow. It was just a blank journal, it didn't even have the Library seal on it anywhere. I contemplated bringing it to the librarian's attention but it wasn't library property without the seal. I stuck it in my bag and grabbed a random book before going to the checkout desk to scan my book out. As I walked out of the library onto the sidewalk I shielded my face from the glare of the sun setting behind the building. I immediately put the book in my bag and swapped it out for the leather-back journal and continued examining it. There was a scar on the leather on the inside, I almost didn't notice it but then felt the texture in the middle felt softer. I didn't understand how it had scarred, and the scar looked newer than the leather was... I was so busy examining it I didn't notice someone reach out and try to grab me, nor did I see the truck coming towards me on my right until it was in my peripheral. All I could do was cry out and attempt to move out of the way. It slammed into me and my body, still gripping the leather journal, rag dolled over the hood and several feet into the air. I felt nothing until hitting the ground and I heard snapping sounds all around me. Searing pain erupted everywhere and I blacked out for a moment as my head hit the pavement. I panicked. I don't know why but I tried, hard, to move my head, even a few inches to see where it was. I saw it to my left just by my hand, pages open facing down. I also saw my blood leaking from my left side and staining the pages red, soon to be brown. My hearing suddenly came back and I was assaulted by screaming and sirens and other loud noises and that really _hurt_. The guy driving the truck jumped out with someone else and ran over to my side. He was all big and tough looking so even in my pain filled state I still found it funny that he looked like someone shot his puppy in front of him. I grimaced and watched him pull his phone out and call an ambulance even after someone else probably did. I knew they wouldn't get here in time and closed my eyes...eye… I didn't notice until now but my glasses had shattered on my left side and had filled my left eye with glass. I could only see out of my right side. I felt tired. Exhausted. I felt darkness close in until I could no longer see the sunlight through my eyelid. I slept.

I grimaced and turned over. Why was the sun right in my face? I didn't have a window near my bed in the room. I shouldn't even be in my room. I should have had all my furniture moved out of my mom's house and in my apartment. I frowned but no matter how I turned there was bright light. I covered my face and cried out in pain when my hand met my left eye. To be more precise the glass that was embedded in it. I let out a moan of frustration as my memories came back and the truck kept flashing behind my eyelids. I felt the anger and determination build in me until suddenly it felt like an explosion of adrenaline and nothing hurt anymore. I flinched back. I felt so confused, where had the glass gone and why was it no longer bright. I crawled back away from the book where it rested in the same position as before, still overturned. My own blood no longer staining the page. Nothing hurt and from what I could see I had no wounds and my left eyesight was perfect… _Perfect_? I was nearsighted, my eyesight shouldn't be perfect! I covered one eye to see out of my right eye and it was perfect too. I felt something in my gut. A warm feeling pooling there, but I also felt nauseous. I shakily stood up and looked around for my bag and tried to walk to it only to stumble. That's when I realized. I had _shrunk._ I didn't understand what was happening. I struggled to my bag and pulled out my phone, I looked into it and flinched back at my own reflection. I looked the same as I had when I had turned 10. My face was round and my hair pooled around me on the ground. It hadn't been this long when I turned 10 though, I didn't understand what was going on. My clothes still fit but using my limbs had become awkward.

I stood up and picked my bag up, carefully taking baby steps over to the book which I nudged with my foot. After what seemed like forever and nothing happened I picked it up and shoved it into my bag. I felt mortified. I had been de-aged… or something. More importantly… maybe… maybe not… I didn't know where I was. I looked to be in an alleyway behind some bar or something. The only entrance, or exit, in my case, was the back door. I walked up to it and gently tried to open it. It was unlocked. I looked in and was shocked to find a bar or something like I had thought. I couldn't tell because the smell of breakfast entered my nose and I'm pretty sure I have never heard of a bar that served breakfast. I entered in and almost walked into a man who just nodded to me and left the way I came like it was an everyday occurrence. Maybe it was for them. My stomach growled and I flinched, my hair still trailing behind me just above my ankles. There was dirt on the knees of my wool thigh highs and some on my skirt. I was mostly clean. I hoped they didn't throw me out, I had no money on me before my accident and I doubt some magically appeared in my bag after…. Whatever happened. They might take pity on a hungry lost child if I look sad enough.

I walked forward into the main room which had a big fireplace, a big counter with a kitchen behind it and tables and booths everywhere. Stairs led up somewhere and after seeing some people come down and take their seats I concluded this was an inn of some sort. I saw a handsome looking older man behind the counter wiping off some glasses and glancing around occasionally. I proceeded to look lost as his eyes hovered over my direction. I felt tears pull up in the corners of my eyes and looked around looking as scared as I could while trying to seem brave. I really was upset at the moment so that helped. I needed to know where I was so I could find my way home…. Mom might not believe me seeing as I'd shrunk. Maybe I was dead and it's like that one anime my friend tried to get me to watch where there was this butler guy who decided if you went up or down or something. That would explain why people were going back where I had entered like there was something interesting back there.

I walked further in, uncertain if I should talk directly to the man at the counter or not. I decided I should get this over with. I took a deep breath and went up to the counter in between two guys and tried to scramble up on the stool to better see the man.

He glanced down at me with a patient smile and asked, "What can I do for ya?"

I panicked and looked around me for a minute before turning towards him. "I-I can't find my parents…." He frowned for a second and looked at me.

"Do you remember where you last saw them?" I shook my head.

"I don't know where I am...either." I heard a loud swoosh sound and saw some green light where the fireplace was and my eyes widened when a person walked out of it, green flames whipping around them. The man saw me look at the fire place in confusion and awe and his frown deepened. "How did he do that?" I asked, less scared and more curious.

"It's called the Floo network. Do you know what magic is?" He asked tilting his head in someone's direction as they walked by.

"Uhm...Magic" I looked at him confused as alarms went off in my head. I'd managed to stay calm through all this so far but I'm seriously close to having an emotional breakdown, "Magic is real?" He seemed to panic before asking me to follow him to the back. I followed him even more distressed than when that truck hit me. There was a couch and he motioned for me to sit down. He said he was going to be right back. He was probably going to call the police or something now that I thought about it. Or… whatever the _magic?_ equivalent was. Man am I confused right now. This is all fucked. What do I tell authorities if they come? I reached up and touched my left eye expecting pain again, surprised when none came. I seriously was freaking out. If this was some sort of prank then it's not funny! Then again none of my friends were this elaborate… What was that man's name?

I was distracted from my inner monologue by the nice man coming back leading two other guys with him. I tilted my head curiously. One was a short stout man with a monocle and the other a taller man with smiley eyes and a big smiley. They both wore robes? Someone somewhere was getting a kick out of this… she was not. The first man introduced the two men as, in order, Alfred and Stanley. He then introduced himself as Tom. I nodded and Stanley sat next to me on the couch and held out his hand for me to shake.

"And what would your name be?" He asked with his weird smiley face that freaked me out a little. Maybe I had died and gone to hell. Who knows. Not me. I hesitated before responding.

"Nelliel…I don't remember my last name." I wasn't about to give a bunch of strangers my last name. He smiled even bigger if that was possible.

"How old are you, do you remember anything that happened before you came to the Leaky Cauldron?" Alfred asked. Was that what this place was called? I guess it makes sense with the whole magic being real and all.

"I'm 10, I only remember waking up in the alley in the back. I don't remember anything else…" I reached over and picked up my bag and showed him. "All I have is this." He nodded.

"I see, we'll have to take you to Gringotts then and find out if you have magical inheritance or core then, if you don't we can still find your parents and return you to them." For some reason, it felt like he wasn't mentioning something. I nodded and screamed stranger danger in my head. Stanley stood up and motioned me to follow him and I smiled, the corners of my mouth twitched in my discomfort. I picked up my bag and followed him out. He kept a hand on my shoulder and brought me to Tom's fireplace and realized we were going to do the floo thing. He went in first and directed me to follow. He threw some sort of green powder down and said something with Gringotts in the title and suddenly I was stumbling back out of the fireplace. I took a moment to investigate the room I landed in. The room was huge and looked like everything was made of marble. It all had impeccable detail and was kind of regal looking. I caught myself and dusted some soot off my knees. Stanley waited for me not once losing his smiley face. It was terrifying. I didn't falter though. I looked at everything, even the little creatures that walked by with long noses. They all looked angry, but I wasn't going to say that out loud because even though they were shorter than me they were absolutely intimidating. My awe was genuine.

He guided me up to a pedestal I could just barely see over. There was a short angry looking...person? I guess is the right word for it, Smiley didn't say what they were. He nodded to it and started discussing a test of some sort. I pretended to be more interested in my shoes. When they finished talking Stanley directed me to follow closely behind him. The creature guided us to big round doors that led into an office. Another creature sat there waiting for us and motioned for us to sit down. I smiled at the terrifying creature.

My name is Kroblac, I understand you wish to have an inheritance test done on this child?" He seemed to glare at smiley, who, smiled bigger, believe it or not. Alfred answered this time.

"Indeed, we will cover all expenses, we also need to know if this child has a magical core." The creature nodded and pulled out a piece of paper and a knife.

"The child will have to prick their finger," I noticeably winced," …and place three drops of their blood upon the parchment." He paused, "But you already know that." Smiley accepted the knife and parchment and handed the knife to me, holding out the paper. I hesitated but pricked my finger. It hurt, but not as much as getting hit with a moving vehicle. I squeezed my finger over the paper until the last drop came out and my finger healed. I didn't do that this time so it must have been the knife. Kroblac sent it somewhere with another of those creatures and we waited.

I looked up at Stanley when he was handed something else, it was a concoction of some sort with a lavender color and it smelled like the ocean. Kroblac answered my quiet question.

"That potion will tell us whether you have a magical core and what type it is." Kroblac said, clasping his hands on the huge regal looking desk. The potion was in a small, glass, vial that was round and had a crystal stopper. "You'll need to drink it quickly."

I was handed the potion by Smiley who removed the stopper and I stared down at it. It didn't shimmer and the smell put me off. Nothing that smells this good is likely to taste good. I brought it to my lips and quickly downed it. Once it was down I nearly dropped the vial and Smiley caught it and apparently me as well because the side of the chair seemed suspiciously close. I finally regained control of my senses and heard someone intake a breath. I looked up, confusion showed on my face. Kroblac had stood up and Smiley was… frowning? That was a terrifying thought. I couldn't see Alfred but he probably reacted as well. What was wrong though. I saw something shimmer down by my chest and my eyes widened.

"Oh-"

"This is wonderful!" Smiley said… Smiling again. His frown had only lasted a few moments. "Your magical core is quite large for someone of your age, but that's not the best part!" He sounded like a fanboy who was told he was getting the whole show's merchandise for free.

"What?" I asked, I was still so confused about what was happening.

Alfred and Kroblac spoke almost at once, Alfred quietly and Kroblac no longer looked like he wanted to stab Smiley in the face. "You've been blessed by Lady Magic herself, child."

Smiley knelt in front of her chair and took her hand in his. "We'll try our hardest to find your parents, Nelliel, until then we'll have you live with a foster family so you can learn more about this world." This worried me, a foster family? We had those where I was from and they were usually shit. Jesus Christ what have I gotten myself into?

"Ok…" I mentally grimaced. Mom was going to be pissed. If I ever see her again. I suddenly stilled, tears forming at the corner of my eyes. I felt true _fear._ I might never see my mother again. I held the tears back and nodded again when he looked at me in concern.

We resumed our previous positions just as the creature with my test came back and they handed it to Kroblac. He looked at it and closed his eyes for a moment before handing it to Smiley. I leaned over to look, as did Alfred. There was a lot of information on it, under parents nothing, not a single name and I trembled as Smiley frowned again. Under age it said the number 10 and it said I was born October 26th. 1980. My name was at the top but it only showed the name I had given them, not my last name. I turned away and didn't want to see the rest. Once they had read everything they took me back to the floo, Smiley had tasked Alfred with telling Tom that I was fine because Tom had requested to know if I was okay. Smiley then took me to a place called Ministry of Magic, I wasn't really listening. He guided me through the huge building through crowds of people walking to and fro, some wearing fancy looking robes, some not. The sign above the door we were entering said something about children or families, I didn't get a good look.

He led me to another door. It was bright magenta and I mentally choked as I saw his name on the plaque. This was his office. He motioned the soft, plush looking chair in front of his desk and I sat my bag down next to it before sitting down. I fidgeted as I waited for him to sit or speak or something. He stood there staring at the portrait behind his desk, seemingly muttering something to it before suddenly it _moved_ across the frame and disappeared. I jumped slightly, my eyes wide. He finally turned to me and looked back at the inheritance test sitting on his desk.

"Well...let's start with finding you a foster home-" I closed my eyes. Reality hit me as I realized not only did I not know where I was but that I had no _parents_ , I was scared and de-aged and I had shrunk. Thank god I went through puberty 7 months after turning nine or I'd be _really_ suffering. "-within the magical community so that they can help you adjust to your changes. Since you're ten already it's likely that you'll attend either Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang as your choice of school. Also, we'll need to register you with the information we have. Quite recently over the years children blessed by lady Magick herself have popped up, unfortunately none of them have lost their memories or have forgotten themselves. You are quite the special case, Nelliel, so I hope you'll forgive me if I make any mistakes." I looked at him and his creepy smiley smile was replaced with a genuine one, which lasted all of 10 seconds before he got excited again. "Let's get started, shall we?" I nodded my head and several hours of paperwork went by. Then, once I had been registered came the task of which school I wished to attend. I decided on Hogwarts as I didn't feel like learning a new language just to attend a school. That and from what he described of the place I thought it sounded pretty cool. He almost constantly smiled the whole time, it was unnerving. Finally came the time to find me a home. I wanted to curl into a ball and sleep I was so exhausted. He gave me several files to look over, I didn't ask him any questions and he constantly looked over at me worried as he finished filing the paperwork. There were seven files here, and I was so engrossed in them I forgot everything that happened. One was a family with the last name Diggory. The others I ruled out because they appeared wealthy and stuck up or just uninteresting. One of the names, Filius Flitwick, was a professor at Hogwarts, he also had a birthday in the same month as mine on 9 days before my own.

He also was really smart, I glossed over the rest. If I became family with a professor it would really help me get adjusted and I would have access to lots of books. Which in turn, would possibly lead me to a way home. I wanted to hold on to that hope for as long as I could and then I remembered I quite literally _died_ several hours ago when a truck _hit_ me. If it wasn't for the fact that Sir Stanley Smiley over here was watching me I would have gone into a fit of hysterics and started crying, I calmed myself down though because his smile was absolutely terrifying. Not in an intimidating way but an unnerving one. I glanced at the date the file was last updated and flinched, I realized how long this guy had been waiting. The other files were new, this one was at least 13 years old.

I looked over the others again before I made my decision. I needed to learn as much as I could about this place and where I was. I handed smiley the lone file, leaving the rest on his desk. He looked at it, smile never leaving his face before he turned to me.

"You're sure?" It was rhetoric but I nodded my head and remained silent. He called for a house elf to bring sandwiches and tea, he also asked for a blanket. At first, I was frightened when it popped into the room. I jumped and remained shaken when it returned with the requested items. It would take a while to finish filing the files. I sat in the chair and watched him work as I ate my sandwiches, careful not to get crumbs on the blanket. I finished and pulled the blanket up around me and tried to sleep. I was exhausted and confused. What in the world was going on?

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 **Well, That's the end of chapter 1, I'm currently working on revising chapter 2 and finishing chapter 3 so more will be out soon.**

 **Reviews are always welcome!**

 **Nepe~**


	2. Chapter 2: You Chose Each Other

**Hey everyone! Nepe here with the second chapter. I've had to change this one completely, took a little longer than I thought but I'm getting there.**

 **I'm terrible with personalities and making people seem… real? I guess. Lots to work on.**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

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 ***Parseltongue***

 _'Thinking'_

"Speaking"

 _=Whispering=_

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 **Chapter 2: You Chose Each Other**

5:31 p.m.

I woke up to voices speaking in hushed tones. It took me a moment but I remembered all that happened yesterday and cringed. I could identify one voice as Stanley's but the other I could not. I wondered how long I'd been asleep and cracked one eye open to look out the window. I mentally berated myself for sleeping until about noon. I also wondered if the time displayed was even correct, Stanley mentioned the windows were fake and just charmed to look like the outside. I could faintly make out what they were saying, small snippets, sounded like the other guy just got here.

 _=...sure she chose my file?=_ New guy.

 _=...looked at them for several hours…=_ Stanley.

It was like this for several minutes before I decided I should let them know I was awake. I stretched, my blanket falling off my lap with a soft plop. The talking stopped and I suddenly became nervous. I was trying to get over the fact that I died but it was all so shocking and now I was 10 again. Why couldn't I just die like a normal person, then I wouldn't have to deal with all this magic crap. I leaned over the top of the chair and peaked towards the two-other people in the room.

Stanley, smiley as ever, watched quietly as the other person's eyes met mine and we stared at each other for what seemed like forever. I compared what I could see in front of me with the information I had read in the file. Short, half goblin, not that I knew what those looked like, brown hair combed to each side from the middle in a short bowl-cut-ish shape. He had a slightly curled up mustache and light eyes behind round glasses. He had on a little bow tie, a collared shirt with grey vest and striped trousers. He also looked about ready to cry and I frowned a little. Did smiley say something to him?

I broke the silence with a soft," Hi." and He burst into tears. I flinched back slightly and narrowed my eyes at smiley. "What did you say to make him cry!" Smiley took a step back and I jumped from behind the armchair to shake my fist at him. Smiley put his hands up in front of him and shook his head.

"I only talked to him about you. I never insulted him!" He hid behind the door, frowning and looking ready to bolt. In any other situation I would have found him being intimidated by a ten-year-old hilarious. I took another step towards him… and proceeded to trip on my hair which reached the ground. I managed to steady myself and gasped. I suddenly became self-conscious and covered my face. Even before I had died I didn't like raising my voice or starting fights. I felt embarrassed. It was completely out of character for me.

Everyone had eventually calmed down enough to sit down in their respective places, I was back in the armchair and wrapped the blanket up on my lap, Filius and Smiley were in their own chairs.

"Sorry about that." Filius coughed in his hand at his embarrassing display. Stanley nodded and continued from where he left off, my-self included this time.

"As you can see here Nelliel is someone with no discernable past or existence further back from yesterday. She has very few memories and according to the inheritance test we did at Gringotts yesterday, no parents. She also has the presence of magic. Under normal situations she would be handed back over to the American branch, however, this is far from normal which is why we've registered her as a citizen." Smiley smiled. "This is also why we needed a foster family already integrated in Britain, to help her to understand our culture and get settled in."

He handed Filius a copy of her file, the original safely in a filing cabinet somewhere. I rubbed my hand over the soft exposed side of the blanket and listened as Smiley spoke. Filius was listening intently as well as skimming through my file. I felt bad because his file was so old, I wondered why no one wanted him to foster them. The only thing I could think of before meeting him was he was simply too intimidating, then I remembered something in his file. He had Goblin ancestry, maybe people here didn't like Goblins. I stood and placed the blanket where I was sitting then turned to Filius and with one quick movement I bowed.

"Please if you'll have me sir!" I waited for a moment before righting myself and looking at him in the eyes.

"My current residence is the castle-"

"That's fine!" I responded.

"I'm a teacher so I may not have a lot of time to care for you-"

"That's okay!"

"Is there anything that bothers you at all!?" Everything suddenly got quiet as I stared at him for a moment.

"Not really..."

"I don't really have any objections either-"

"Well then it's settled!" At our alarmed looks he looked like he was ready to laugh at us. "If you would both sign here and here that would be the end of that." He put two papers in front of us, where we had to sign was circled in red and he handed Filius a quill. He hesitated to give me one but I admitted that among my things was a fountain pen so I could probably use it. I took the quill and dipped it into the ink pot before I began writing my signature. Even though quills and fountain pens are so similar it was still slightly messy but it was alright. I left the last name blank, I had no parents here, sharing their last name was sort of pointless, also I had told them I had no memory of it.

I waited for Filius to finish. Stanley informed us two aurors would be by in one week's time to assess my living situation and they would do that once every three months for the next year. Then they would do it once a year. He led us back to the big room with all the fancy looking fireplaces and I didn't bother paying attention to where we came from, I could feel something forcing my attention away when I tried.

We finally exited and that weird pressure disappeared. I glanced back but the door we exited was gone. I felt like I was on some weird acid trip or something. I immediately had a headache afterwards. ' _Drugs are bad kids, don't do them_.'

I stood by as Filius took out that green powdery stuff again and handed me some of it.

"Do you know how to use floo powder?" He asked me and I nodded. "Good, we'll be going to the Leaky Cauldron." I nodded again and threw the powder down. I said our destination as clearly as I could and stepped through. This time I was better prepared and avoided the soot. I stepped out of the fireplace to the other side and immediately spotted Tom. I waved as soon as he caught my eye and he waved back. The place wasn't as packed as yesterday. Filius followed a moment after and moved towards the entrance of the alley where I first woke up. I frowned. As far as I was aware it was a dead end back there. Then again, this is magic we're talking about. That and we can travel by fireplace.

He stopped beside one of the brick walls and pulled out a long, slick piece of wood. I realized it was a wand. He tapped a few bricks in order and I gasped as the bricks folded in on themselves to reveal a bustling street. Filius grinned.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley! First stop, Madam Malkin's." Filius said with a bright smile. As we walked he struck up a conversation describing all the things we'd be getting. Among those things he mentioned a pet. I felt the tingly excitement at that. I loved animals. My Biology teacher had a Tarantula named Rosy, an old thing that she let the student's hold once. She also had two hissing cockroaches and later that year she brought in baby ducklings to show the students. She was one of my favorite teachers. I love hands on experience.

"Now normally you'd receive your letter first however now that I'm your guardian your guaranteed acceptance,"He said and explained at my question that since he was a teacher and his residence was the school that for convenience I would be allowed to attend. " I already know what is required for the current school year so we'll be getting your school supplies this trip as well. Everything should tie together neatly."

I nodded along to show I was listening as I took in the other shops as we passed. I realized the shops all were built in a way like the ones that surrounded the square back home. They had the homes built above the shops and the shops were pressed tightly together. I took note of the sketchy looking alley way as we passed with a sign that said Knockturn Alley. From the way people sped up when they passed it I guessed it must be the magical equivalent to the alleys back home that drug dealers resided. I labeled it dangerous until I had more information on it.

"Here we are." Filius announced, leading me into a shop full of beautiful robes of assorted colors. It wasn't just robes either. There were a wide variety of clothes such as dresses and skirts and shawls. I eyed up the shawls heavily as we passed. There were also hair accessories.

"Ah, Filius, what can I do for you today?" A woman stood in the middle of the room with an air of familiarity. Filius grinned back.

"Actually, today I'll be buying for someone else." Filius proudly stated. The way he said It led me to believe he'd been looking forward to this for a while.

I waved from behind him and said a little, "Hi." The woman smiled brightly, a knowing glint in her eyes at my impending doom. Indeed, as soon as I noticed she pounced.

"Follow me, this way," She ordered gently, shuffling me towards the back of the shop." Let me just get your measurements dearie." I grimaced as I was stood upon a stool and she had me hold my arms up. This reminded me of every time my mom or grandma took me shopping to buy me expensive stuff but I didn't want anything I couldn't run or play in with my friends. So basically, that ruled out everything in the stores. I could see Filius excitedly running around and looking at all the clothes and resisted face palming. I didn't want to mess up the measurements being taken. Madam Malkin seemed to be taking secret delight in my pain and suffering.

"This is really unnecessary." I called over to him but he just waved me off. ' _I don't need this many clothes.'_

"Nonsense!" He said as he disappeared from view.

In the end it wasn't so bad. Until I realized Filius wasn't stopping. I made my fears known that he would buy out the whole store but Malkin told me not to worry. I gave her this long look like I was trying to light her ablaze with my eyes but she just went about her business and I sighed. If Filius wasn't going to slow down we wouldn't get anywhere today. I went over to the growing pile of clothes and began sorting through them. I folded and sorted clothes into piles based on things that matched. He came back carrying a scarf and gave me a surprised look.

I shrugged," I've honestly just given up, but those over there," I said pointing to a small pile of clothes to the side of the now neatly folded main pile," Don't match anything here."

Call me greedy but I've seen that look he has on my mother and grandmother's face when shopping. Nothing would stop him, not even strategic manipulation.

He disappeared behind more racks and suddenly Malkin, who I hadn't realized was gone, came back and shuffled me, once again, to some other part of the store. I realized with embarrassment that she meant for me to go through the ladies' personals, it was in another room so I couldn't manage the destruction Filius was sure to be causing to the pile of clothes I had carefully folded.

She left me again and I could hear her talking to Filius but I couldn't make out their conversation. I decided it wasn't important and moved through the aisles of stuff, some things were normal stuff and some weren't. I picked out things I knew I would use, nothing fancy. I perused the socks and that's where the fun began. I couldn't help but ogle at them, some had moving pictures like kitties that stretched and bats that flew around them. Another pair had a little golden ball with fast moving wings that zoomed every which way. I drooled. I realized that maybe I had as much of a shopping problem as Filius and my family.

I eventually emerged from that room to see Filius standing proudly by several bags like he won the Olympics. I realized he did indeed ruin the pile of perfectly folded clothing and I rolled my eyes. Malkin smiled and I immediately felt uncomfortable. I placed the stuff I picked out on the counter and the woman bagged them. Filius brought out his wand again and I watched him shrink the bags. Malkin took them to another room before coming back.

"I should have them to you by the end of the day if the weather stays nice." She said and he nodded in appreciation, "Now then, I know it's untraditional but is there anything specific you want done with your school robes?"

My eyes widened, I knew exactly what I wanted. I'm a pretty clumsy person and with my hair the way it was that was an even bigger problem. "Is it possible to leave off the sleeves?" They both raised their eye brows. "I'm really clumsy and that would help prevent a lot of disasters." They accepted this and she wrote it down on a piece of thick, yellow, paper.

"All right Filius, I suppose you want me to put this on the pre-paid tab." My eyebrows shot up to my hairline at this. What the hell was a pre-paid tab? _'Maybe he really was preparing for this for a while.'_ I thought.

"Of course, that is why it's there in the first place." He was radiating pride and I realized that we still had a lot of stores to go. It would be a long day.

The next place we went to be a shop that sold trunks. Filius insisted I pick it out and I walked around as he chatted with someone near the front. There were all kinds with different woods and metals. They had lots of compartments. Some even had whole houses inside. I was impressed by such feats. They all had lists of the compartments and I read each one carefully.

I eventually found one I liked. It seemed sturdy and had little fishes burned into the wood that swam around. It seemed rather cheap compared to all the others. I thought it was cute, and it had a compartment for clothes, books, and potions ingredients. There was a place to store my cauldron and the other utensils as well. I could set a password to lock it and I thought that was neat. Filius approved of my rather adorable selection. Filius shrunk the trunk after I had set the password and we moved on to another shop.

The next thing on our list was potion ingredients and tools. Then we got books. Finally, Filius brought me to the one place I had been really looking forwards to visiting. There were animals everywhere, of all various kinds. Filius immediately stopped me from running off right away though.

"Owl, Toad or Cat." He reminded me. I nodded and stood in between said creatures. My instinct was to go with cat but I decided not to. I couldn't replace a cat I knew I wouldn't see again. Even if they are cute and cuddly. I bit my lip. I couldn't help but wonder how my mother was faring. _'Would she feed Wyntr when I was gone?'_ I tilted my head. I should stop those thoughts now, I can deal with my internal struggling later. Right now, I need to portray myself as a normal ten-year-old. I turned towards the toads and barely considered them. I liked frogs and toads I just didn't think I'd like to keep one as a pet. That left Owls.

I walked over to them and looked at the name plates that said what kind they were as I watched them. Filius told me that owls were used for mail, or as he called it, the post. This meant I wanted one that could carry mail well. I turned at the sound of wings flapping to see a woman enter from another room wearing an apron. She carried perched on one arm a huge, tawny colored owl with two, black tufts above each eye like eyebrows that made it look angry. Suddenly it opened its long wingspan and took off. The woman let out a surprised shout.

It seemed to zero in on my location and flew around me. Almost on instinct I held out my arm and wanted to punch myself, I wasn't wearing any protection on my arms. It seemed to be what it wanted though because it landed on my arm and began ruffling its feathers. I just stood there awkwardly. The woman came over and shook her head at his antics.

"I'm terribly sorry kid, he's usually much more collected." She apologized as she reached out her arm towards mine. The owl refused to budge. "He usually keeps to himself."

The owl moved further up my arm. The woman was becoming increasingly nervous when she realized that the bird wouldn't cooperate. I frowned. I thought such a large bird would be rather heavy, or painful, to hold but it was more comforting than anything. The woman mistook my action as one of displeasure and went to just grab the bird only for it to peck at the woman's hands. I shook my head.

"I don't think he wants to leave." I said matter-of-factly. I asked her to show me where his perch was and she pointed to the one empty cage near the ceiling. I read the words on the plaque. "Turkmenian Eagle Owl." I read aloud and the woman nodded.

"This one is a young male." I nodded and brought the owl, and the woman as well to speak to Filius. I found him looking at owl treats.

Filius turned to me as I neared and smiled. "Have you decided?"

"Uh..." I looked at the owl which preened and crooned. "Yes?" I questioned.

The woman sighed but nodded her head. Filius lead the way to the front of the shop where the woman also handed me a book about owls and their care. I thanked her and Filius payed. I stopped Filius outside before we went to our final destination.

"I um..." He waited patiently for me to speak. "Thank you..." I looked down.

"There's no need to thank me, Nelliel." He patted my arm. "It's truly a pleasure to finally be able to do this."

We moved on and I followed him to a pretty dingy looking shop. It looked ancient compared to the others. This would be our last stop for the day. _'This is where I get my wand.'_ I followed Filius into the shop and a bell above the door dinged.

"Ahh-" I jumped and my owl fluttered agitated. "Filius, surely your wand is still as strong willed as ever?" Filius laughed and shook his head.

"Of course!" He turned to me and I moved forwards into view, the owl still perched on my left arm.

"Hi." I said softly with a small wave.

"Nelliel, however, will definitely need a wand." Filius finished.

The old man smiled warmly, his pale eyes shone with interest. He waved his hand and a measuring tape came out of no-where and began measuring me.

"Well isn't this delightful, you're practically glowing with pure magic!" He said fascinated. "Tell me, what is your most dominant hand?"

"My right hand." He nodded in thought and began shuffling about behind shelves.

I looked around. I could tell Filius didn't notice but I could hear them, the different wands. It was a low, low hum, barely audible. I looked at my owl. I hadn't thought of a name for him yet. Before I could think of one though the old man came back with a long, slender detailed wand that he placed in my right hand. I blinked at him. At his urging I gave it a gentle wave only for him to frown. Nothing happened. I looked at him as he took it away and he seemed to consider something as he seemingly caressed the wand.

"Odd, odd." He turned to me puzzled. "You, my dear, are an oddity." Filius frowned but remained silent. "You see, they are all reacting to your presence positively, however, none of them want you to use them. This will definitely make finding a match for you difficult." I nodded as I listened to him talk. Of course this would happen, I already died, what more was gonna be thrown at me.

He took off behind the shelves again and this time didn't come back any time soon. I shuffled on my feet and looked at all the boxes. I felt like the wands would impale me and fly right out of their boxes, the humming was becoming louder, almost forceful.

The old man finally came back, a purple box in his hands a stark contrast to the black boxes on the surrounding shelves. he gingerly set it down and looked at me and back at it. Opening the box he took out a long, warm colored wand with a jagged shape.

He brought it to me and I examined it. It was almost shaped like a bird and the handle appeared feathery. It hummed different to the others who seemed angry now. I gently brought it up before bringing it down slightly harsher then the wand before. Small, white flower heads sprang forth and gently floated to the floor in a shower of white. I recognized the flower. It was poisonous. My favorite flower Lily of the Valley. suddenly the old man clapped and waved his hand to remove the flowers with great enthusiasm. I grinned.

"Well done! Well done!" He said. "Hawthorn, Phoenix feather, 12 3/4, slightly yielding flexibility." He turned to Filius when he stepped forward.

"I thought you said it would be slightly more difficult?" He asked, inspecting the wand like I did moments before.

"Ahh, but it was, you see, I had to look for something different, I had to think." I looked at him. ""The wandmaker Gregorovitch wrote that hawthorn 'makes a strange, contradictory wand, as full of paradoxes as the tree that gave it birth, whose leaves and blossoms heal, and yet whose cut branches smell of death.' While I disagree with many of Gregorovitch's conclusions, we agree that Hawthorn wands have complex and intriguing natures that match their owners. Hawthorn wands are both suited to healing magic and adept at curses. They also appear most at home towards a conflicting person or someone passing through turmoil."

I saw the surprise on Filius' face out of the corner of my eye. I looked again down at the warm wand in my right hand and felt it practically vibrate with happiness.

"The wand chooses the witch, Nelliel, but in this case you've chosen each other." He peered down at me and turned back to the counter. Filius stepped forward to speak with him and I tuned them out to turn the wand in my hand around so I could inspect it some more. The feathers along the wood were more detailed than I had first thought. I looked up to see Filius walk back over to me, he had a small gauntlet looking thing in his hand.

When he noticed my questioning look he told me what it was. "It's an arm holster, it'll hold your wand."

"Oh, cool." I said.

He gestured for me to hold out my right arm and I did. He placed the Gauntlet part on my under arm and fastened it at the front. He then showed me how to place my wand inside. Once it was inside he showed me how to bring it back out. I flicked my wrist down and caught my wand in the palm of my hand. Once I had gotten it back in I followed Filius outside and back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Once we got there we stepped inside the brick archway only to stop there. He turned to me.

"We're going to apparate to the castle, he'll be able to find his way there." At my worried look he patted my arm." Don't worry he was trained." This only made me slightly feel better.

I trusted him though, so I muttered a soft, =I'll see you again soon= to my owl. I still needed to name him. He seemed to understand what I wanted because he took off into the sky. I watched him go and then looked back at Filius who held out his hand.

"You will have to hold my hand, don't move until we are on the other side because you could end up splinched." I didn't know what that meant but I nodded my head to show I was ready. I took his hand and he turned on his heal. There was a loud crack and I felt like I was being sucked through a straw. Once I felt ground below my feet I looked up and let go of his hand. There were a lot of trees and grass surrounding us. We had appeared outside of a huge metal gate that opened as Filius stepped forward. I followed him up the road toward a huge castle.

* * *

 **I'm so glad I got this written down, I was really tired. I want to watch Atlantis: The Lost Empire again.**

 **Reviews are always welcome!**


	3. Chapter 3: Soup

**Hello readers I noticed a mistake in the second chapter. I'll fix that momentarily. (The time at the beginning shouldn't be there. That was when I finished the chapter. It has no relevance)**

 ***Parseltongue***

 _'Thinking'_

"Speaking"

 _=Whispering= (also the diary)_

 **Chapter 3: Soup**

I stared at the ceiling for over an hour. When we got to the castle Filius showed me where my room was and said that I should make myself at home. He told me where I could find him and that if I needed anything I need only to ask.

I shook my head and closed my eyes. They were starting to hurt. It appeared to be midnight and I wasn't any closer to sleeping. I was too worried. Worried about how my mother was doing. How my little sister and Botar were. I worried about my half siblings too but they were probably okay.

I sat up. If I wasn't going to be able to sleep then I should do something else. Like, for example, investigate the object that may or may not be responsible for bringing me here. I slid off the bed and grabbed my bag. I opened it and pulled out the journal/diary and inspected it. The scar was gone. I frowned. The paper was unlined so it would do as a sketch book. I realized the name on the front was clear now. ' _Tom M. Riddle.'_ I read. I took the pencil box out of my bag and a sharpener and decided to put it to use.

"For science!" I said and sat on the floor. This could take a while.

I started out with a picture of the creature from Gringotts. I decided on the colors and began my work.

I don't know how long I sat there drawing. Everything seemed normal at first. I had just corrected a mistake in Kroblac's left eye. I was finished, I didn't see anything that really needed correcting so I signed it and went to turn the page when I realized it was disappearing. I huffed angrily and watched it go, unable to do anything about it. How ' _rude._ ' I glared at the page and willed the picture to come back.

Something came back alright, but it wasn't my picture.

Words formed in curly writing, clearly an older person by the looks of it.

=You are very skilled, Nelliel.=

I groaned. A light bulb went off above my head though. This could be the owner of the diary.

=Thank you, Tom?= I waited, I didn't realize I was holding my breath.

=I'm afraid you must be mistaken. I'm Marvolo.= I snorted, did this guy think I was an idiot? I felt a sudden pulling sensation on my chest. It was light and I narrowed my eyes.

=And my name's George Washington, your name is on the book bud.= I blinked, I liked that name. looked around. My wand felt agitated.

=Well in that case, don't you know you shouldn't take what isn't yours?= I full out laughed at that. This guy really was taking me for a fool.

I reached down and stopped, what would I write?

=Hypocrite= I wrote smoothly. =I can feel what you're doing, and this diary was in a public library without the library seal, at that point it's up for grabs.= This time his reply was almost rushed.

=I don't know what you're talking about-= I interrupted the stream of writing with a slash of ink.

=Listen, Tom Marvolo Riddle, no one here likes liars.=

=I don-= I interrupted again.

=Stop doing whatever it is you're doing and maybe we can come to an understanding.= I waited and frowned impatiently when it didn't stop.

=I can't.= My frown deepened.

=What do you mean you can't?= Dread filled me.

=I can't stop steeling your magic.= I tilted my head.

=Explain.= I wrote simply and he did.

The news was very unsettling. He explained to me what Horcruxes were and how one went about becoming a person again. I stopped reading when I got the full gist of it. I was full of self-preservation, however, so I tried to think of a way out of this.

=You said you planned to make more right?= He wrote confirmation.

=Couldn't you just absorb another one?= I stopped and narrowed my eyes. =More importantly who were you in the future?=

=I was supposed have reformed the ministry,= He said, this time it wasn't a lie, the penmanship was smooth, this guy may have been a great liar in his time, but hands don't lie. =I wanted to make it easier for muggle born to enter the magical world earlier so that accidents didn't happen. The muggles have huge weapons, last I heard nuclear power and if they wanted to they could wipe us off the planet.= I nodded.

=Then why-= I asked, tilting my head,= did you make your soul into a horcrux, a dark bit of magic?=

=Please understand Nelliel! Dark magic is not inherently evil, magic is just magic, it's the intention of the witch or wizard that is bad.= I nodded to myself, that made sense.

=That makes sense, but if the ministry was against it and found out you were doing it that might've ruined your plans.= I looked over at the window, the sky wasn't as dark anymore, and today I'd be unpacking and organizing my stuff. =Do you remember where any of the items you might have used as Horcruxes might be?=

=I believe I planned to use the founder's artefacts.= I looked down sharply.

=The founders of Hogwarts?=

=Yes, all except the sword of Gryffindor.= He paused. = At least one of those will work, I need to have more than half a soul to take physical form.= Another pause.= But I'll need a third of your magic to bind us together.= I frowned.

=Only a third? You only need my magic?=

=Yes.= I nodded, seemed fair.

=Alright, where does one go about finding the Diadem? I suppose we'll start by finding you a beautiful crown.= He wasn't as amused as I was.

=The room of requirements.= I grimaced, he had told me where it was but I didn't want to wander around the castle on my first day. I supposed in my free time I could do it.

=I'll talk to you later, it's dawn.= I shut the book and slid it back into my bag. As soon as it was out of sight the tugging near my chest stopped. I yawned, I would definitely feel the effects of no sleep later.

I stood and went over to the bags of clothes and overturned one. I grabbed something that matched and threw it on. Straightening my clothes, I pulled my hair into a braid and tied it with a ribbon. Was kind of worried it would come out but at least my hair was out of the way. Leaving my room, I looked around. It was dark in the main room so Filius hadn't woken up yet. I slipped into the bathroom. I needed to brush my teeth.

When I came out the lights were still out so I tried to be as quiet as possible. Filius showed me how to turn them on. The use of magic wasn't necessary, all I had to do was say Lumos. To turn them off it was Nox.

=Lumos= It was barely audible and I wouldn't have been surprised if it didn't work, luckily it did though. I looked around the room. Sitting on a loveseat I sank into the squishy softness and sighed. Filius was really nice. I was glad I chose him. The others were either too rich and would likely pay to not raise me themselves or suspicious.

Speaking of nice I kind of owed him, he had taken me in. Though, I worry at the extent he went to yesterday. I thought about Tom. He had told me the truth, I had learned how to read people through their penmanship. I stood and went back to my room. How best to thank Filius? I wrote at the top of a piece of parchment. I began listing Ideas.

My head shot up. I could hear footsteps. I opened the door to Filius' raised fist.

He lowered it and coughed into his hand.

"I see you are awake early, how did you sleep?" I looked him straight in the eye.

"I slept well." I said while resisting yawning. I suddenly remembered what I was doing before.

"That's good, that's good…" He seemed to shuffle one foot. "Well, I just wanted to let you know I'll be leaving in a moment, Albus has requested a meeting between all of the staff. If you need anything you know how to call for a house elf right?" I nodded." Good, good." He turned to leave and my eyes widened. I don't know why, but I thought asking would be appropriate.

"Wait!" He stopped and turned to me. I coughed." Do you like soup?" He looked confused but nodded. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Why?" He asked and I felt my cheeks warm.

"Uh, no reason…" I looked up and bit my tongue, ' _ow'_ He walked away and I sighed. The only things I could make were soup and fish. Anything else had to be sweet. I honestly preferred baking.

I watched him leave and as soon as he did I left my room and called for a house elf. I was supposed to organize my stuff but that could wait. I didn't actually know how to call for a house elf.

"Uh…house…elf?" I called out awkwardly, If Botar were here she'd laugh at me. I jumped as a loud crack filled the room and a house elf stood before me.

"What can Toddles bes doings for young miss." I almost gaped but stood straight. I laughed awkwardly.

"Uhm…" I looked at the floor. _'what the heck is my plan?'_ "Can you take me to the kitchen?" I asked. The elf nodded.

"Toddles bes taking young miss." Toddles said as she reached out and grasped my hand. With a crack I was gone.

I was never going to get used to the feeling of being sucked through a tube. I got my bearings and my eyes widened. There were so many elves. I suddenly felt nervous. _'What if I upset them?'_ I turned to Toddles suddenly. She waited patiently.

"Uhm, I actually didn't think this through…" I let out a shaky breath. "What is planned for dinner tonight?" She seemed surprised by this.

I cringed at the answer. Apparently, it was almost the same every night except for holidays like Halloween. I looked at Toddles and weighed my wording carefully.

"So, I have a confession to make." She waited patiently for me to finish. "Cooking calms me."

Immediately she narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth. Before she could say anything, I interrupted.

"It makes me feel better if I have anxiety or if I can't sleep." Toddles tapped her foot and thought before turning and calling for another elf. I closed my eyes momentarily, this could take a while.

I don't know how long it actually took but eventually I had convinced them to give me an area that I was allowed to use when I needed to. I was thankful with that and took it. Then I had to convince them to let me make dinner for Filius tonight. Other than that, I pretty much had free reign of the kitchen and supplies. I asked an elf what time it was.

I had an hour and a half before breakfast to begin preparing my workstation and ingredients and get them into the pot. The only problem was that I didn't know what kind of soup to make. I looked around the kitchen, I didn't want to bother the elves anymore today. I sighed and wrote the ones I could make down and used eeny-meeny-miney-mo. I grinned, it was one I knew well, my grandma taught me how to make it.

I set the paper down and rolled up the sleeves on my shirt. House elves had nothing on Grandparent level skill.

* * *

I looked at the time and smiled. No steps were skipped but I mentally congratulated myself. I had prepared the soup in record time. I re-checked the steps on my fingers and gave myself a pat on the back for truly extraordinary work. I set it to low heat and made plans for the other parts. I had learned from Toddles that pumpkin dishes like pumpkin juice were tradition and I lit up. I would make a savory pumpkin bread to go with the soup. I had fifteen minutes to prepare. I got the non-perishable ingredients out and cleaned up my station. I checked the time and smiled. _'Right on time!'_

Toddles stood next to me and checked over my area with a look of approval. She took me back to my room and I thanked her before she left. I moved across my room and entered the main room to sit on the loveseat while I waited. Soon enough Filius entered the room and was surprised to see me waiting for him.

He recovered before gesturing toward the open portrait.

"Are you ready?" I nodded and tried not to seem too enthusiastic. "Wonderful, come along then." I smiled when he wasn't looking and tried not to skip behind him. I smoothed down my clothes. I could hear the portraits whisper as we walked and I waved at them as we passed. It was probably untraditional for me to be here before the term.

We went down several staircases and went passed many doors before nearing a huge set of double doors with an intricate pattern.

He pushed them open and I once again I found myself in awe at the gorgeous structure that would be my new school. There were hundreds of candles floating up near the ceiling and they didn't drip wax more than ten feet before it disappeared. The ceiling was enchanted to take the form of the sky. The sun was rising and even though it wasn't as bright as the real sun it was still as beautiful.

There were four tables in the middle of the floor sitting side by side with benches on both sides. Up on a stage at the end of the room was another, long, table with a bench only on one side. In front of the table was a huge podium with a gold phoenix carved into it and candle stands on either side of it. No one was sitting there yet, apparently Filius and I were the only one's crazy enough to wake up this early. Above the table were four, hour glasses, they were huge and made of gold. They had, upon closer inspection, gems of four colors, I couldn't identify the gems but I could guess.

Neither of them were dropping and I realized it must be a point system for the term to decide the most hardworking house. My awe was interrupted by Filius' warm laugh. I felt my cheeks warm in embarrassment.

"It never gets old to see the student's expression at seeing the Great Hall." He beckoned me towards the main table. "During the term you will sit with whichever house you are sorted but for now you'll sit at the staff table with the staff members and I."

I followed him and sat next to him at the table. I looked at the room from where I was and realized there were tapestries on the walls that had an insignia with four animals and an H in the middle. Four of the tapestries had insignias with their respective animals.

"I brought us here a little early so we could discuss the school a bit." I nodded along.

"Okay." I said and he continued.

"As you can see," He waved a hand toward the four other tables, "These tables are where the student body will sit during mealtimes. In order they are Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw."

At the last one he seemed to radiate with pride and I realized that that must have been the house he had been sorted into when he attended. He began to describe the founders and their goals and views. I thought about which house I would be sorted into. I liked the idea of Hufflepuff equality. Helga Hufflepuff sounded like a badass. Not in like, the normal sense, but she seemed like someone I 'd get along with, she sounded like she enjoyed cooking as much as I did. That and she loved children. She reminded me of my grandma a little bit. Rowena preferred to take the intelligent. I was all for learning but there's a point where it gets a little ridiculous.

As I stated before, I don't like getting into fights or yelling. I probably couldn't deal with the rashness or loudness of Gryffindor. Slytherin, Ambition and Cunning, I didn't have anything to be ambitious about right now, nor did I have any reason to be cunning. Filius continued to chatter away about the houses.

"Each house has a head of house, I myself am the Ravenclaw Head of House, Minerva McGonagall is the Head of House of Gryffindor, Pomona Sprout is the head of Hufflepuff and the Head of House of Slytherin would be Severus Snape." He said the last name with a slight bitterness, I would have missed it had I not been listening. I filed it away for later. "Then there's the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Each house has two prefects each, one male and one female student."

I thought about this and decided prefect was something like the student counsel of Hogwarts. This meant that they were capable of tutoring students who needed help. I listened to him talk about the other teachers and the grounds keeper, Rubeus Hagrid. As he spoke I noticed someone else enter the great hall. A stern looking woman who looked like she took no shit from anyone.

She came up to the table and looked at me with surprise before sitting down next to Filius, who had stopped talking to address her.

"Why good morning Minerva." Filius greeted.

"Good morning Filius, good morning Miss…" She trailed off and turned to me.

"N-Nelliel, uhm, good morning." I said, providing my name for her. She turned back to Filius with a question on her face. Her voice had a much stronger accent than Filius did.

I answered before he could, "He's my guardian." I looked down at my hands.

"I see…" She said. Filius just smiled happily as ever. I looked at the woman out of the corner of my eye. This was the head of Gryffindor. Soon another woman came in, also stern looking. She wore a whistle around her neck and walked with a quickness.

"Filius, Minerva." She said shortly nodding to the two. She did a double take. "Well then, who might this be?" Filius continued smiling and I let him answer this time.

"This is Nelliel," He said. "I'm her guardian."

"Hi." I waved.

"Hello." She sat at the end of the table. "Madam Hooch, flying instructor." It was a simple answer and I nodded.

Another person came in, a man, long black hair, greasy. His dark eyes held a sadness you would only notice if you looked hard enough. He walked like the guy who walked dramatically away from an explosion. His eyes immediately landed upon my presence and he seemed to mumble to himself. He nodded in acknowledgment towards the adults in the room.

He made a bee line for the seat beside mine and remained quiet. He pulled out a notebook and began scratching away with a quill. I didn't address him, he clearly wanted left alone. Soon enough, people began trickling in and I learned through Filius who they all were. The headmaster came in but didn't seem surprised to see me like the others had.

Breakfast had passed in a quiet affair with the teachers and Filius all conversing, even the dark eyed man who sat next to me spoke a few words.

Eventually, it ended and I followed Filius back to our rooms. He asked me again if I needed anything but I told him that I didn't. Eventually he left me alone and I sighed. I probably appeared to be an angsty teen. That was the opposite of what I wanted. I didn't want to come off as rude to him.

I looked around the room. I had a lot of stuff to put away. I grabbed the bags full of clothes and dragged them over to my trunk. With one flick I had my wand in my hand and touched it to the top of the trunk a few times. I had learned that the trunk wasn't just charmed to have the fish move but you could mimic feeding them as well. I then touched the lock and said my password. It popped open and I lifted it up.

Inside was a little book titled, "How to Get the Most out of Your Trunk." I flipped to the list of chapters and began with how to open the clothes department. I stood and closed the lid before standing the trunk upright as instructed.

I opened the lid again, not needing the password this time because I didn't lock it. This time there was a wall of drawers along the lid and half of the bulk of the trunk was open and I could pull a long rack out on the top. It had lots of hangars. Below that was a place to put my shoes and my school bag. I took a handful of hangars down and began hanging shirts, skirts, dresses and my robes on the rack. I wasn't going to put my only pair of shoes in there because I was still using them. I put everything else in the drawers.

I placed the empty clothes bags behind the rack in the empty space and my book bag, now empty, below that in the cubby.

I read the next part that I needed to do, the potion compartment, and closed the lid and set it on its back side. I opened the lid so it was sitting on the floor and read the rest of that chapter. There was more than one place to put the cauldron and all I had to do was drag the shelf down. There were five cauldron shelves. I placed mine on the first shelf, I only had one. Next to that was a series of three long drawers to put ingredients and two half drawers to put tools.

Once again the lid appeared to have drawers but I realized they were shelves that you could pull up from the top. There were five of them and they had shelves on both sides. Once I had put all that away I went about finding the book compartment.

I closed the lid after making sure everything was secure and set the trunk right-side-up. I opened the lid and found a different compartment to the one that had held the 'how to' book. That had been in its own little pocket. This one had three shelves that could be viewed at a time with handles in-between them to pull or drag more into view.

I read some more and found out that each could fit seven large books. There were ten shelves in all and once a book was placed it would stay there and it wouldn't slide. I put all my books away except for the 'how to' book and continued to read it.

My eyes widened, _'I can customize it with my name?'_ It said not to do it without supervision though because the changes were permanent. I read the directions for the spell and frowned, it sounded really easy though. I thought about practicing the wand movement but I didn't want to cause an accident so I used a quill instead of my wand.

The wand movement was a cursive 'O', the incantation was _"Notch"_ I held the quill in my hand like I had seen Filius hold his and repeated the incantation out loud.

"Notch." I did this several times before I read the rest. If you wanted it in a specific material you added _"Constituent"_ at the end which didn't have a wand movement. Then you had to envision the finished product clearly. I grinned, this sounded super easy. I looked around for something to practice the spell on. I had a notebook with a cloth covering but it was in black so I couldn't customize it in a normal sense.

I grabbed it and placed it on the stone floor away from any carpet or important stuff. It had old math notes anyway. I practiced a few more times without my wand before I felt comfortable enough to do this for real.

I flicked my wrist and felt the soothing wood of my wand enter my hand and slowed my breathing down. I couldn't do with getting distracted and making a mistake. The question was, what did I want to write?

With an idea of what I wanted in my mind I raised my wand to point towards the top of the cover and envisioned lavender thread weaving in and out of the fabric spelling clearly, 'Fuck' in cursive lettering.

With smooth movement that was only a little wobbly I said clearly, "Notch Constituent."

I wanted to do a little dance when the lettering started to appear on the black background. It was very slow but it was progress. I did the same thing but with different colored thread and then other material like copper wire. I was glad I started with simple material and small words though because I realized it got harder when I tried using metals and big words. I eventually had to turn the book over and start practicing with my actual name.

I checked the time and realized it was almost lunch, I had been practicing for five hours. I stopped practicing with my notebook and went back over to the trunk.

The trunk would prove to be difficult but I didn't back down. I had gotten this far and I was confident in my ability to do this.

This time I held my wand much steadier and envisioned my name in cursive lettering carving away from the wood on the lid and filling with the same metal that graced the edges of the trunk, Iron. I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing again as I imagined this.

It was slower than all the others and took about fifteen minutes but when it was done and the metal wasn't hot anymore I ran my hand over the smooth surface and grinned. I was proud of myself. I had two hours before lunch which gave me enough time to mix the batter for my bread. I put my wand away and called for Toddles.

With a crack Toddles appeared next to me and I grinned down at her. She brought me back to the kitchen and I got back to work. I had set out the dry ingredients so I could jump right into mixing them.

I didn't have the use of mechanical mixers or anything like that at home, everything was done by hand. If you mixed it properly you didn't have to worry about clumps or dry bits. I thought it was silly to waist money on something that did as good a job as you could.

I found a small sugar pumpkin and removed the stem before cutting it in half. I scooped out the seeds and insides onto a plate to reveal the pumpkin flesh. I placed them face down on a cookie sheet and put that into the oven to bake. As I waited for the pumpkins to cook I removed the pumpkin seeds from the gunk and set to cleaning them and placing them into a pan to roast.

I then decided to grab another bowl and begin mixing some other dry ingredients. I was an avid gamer and so I learned to make certain dishes from certain games. One of which was my favorite dish. Sweet rolls.

I smirked. Half of the pumpkin would go to making the sweet rolls. The other would make the bread.

It took me awhile but I eventually located a mini Bundt pan and a bread pan. I took the pumpkins out and inserted a knife to make sure they were ready and let them cool for twenty minutes. I had an hour after that.

I began to peel the skin off the pumpkins and put them with the gunk to dispose of later. I took the remaining fruit and mashed it together. I strained most of the water out as I did this so it wouldn't ruin the dishes if I put too much water in them. I saved the water to measure and use. I separated the pumpkin puree in half and started gradually adding the dry ingredients for the bread first. I reduced the amount of salt because I wanted more of the pumpkin taste and instead added a pinch of herbs. I mixed it carefully to get rid of clumps. I used a spoon full of sugar to give it an almost sweetness. Then I added the water from the pumpkin. I split the pumpkin water between the mixes and added other water when needed.

I mixed it until it became almost like cake batter. I set that aside and moved the pumpkin seeds to another burner to cool down and turned the stove top off. I greased the mini Bundt pan and the bread pan. I poured the bread batter into the bread pan leaving enough room to rise and placed that into the oven to the side to leave room for the sweet rolls and began mixing that batter. I checked the time. I would be cutting it close this time so I quickly poured the sweet roll batter and put those in next to the bread and watched the elves bustle about. The sweet rolls would be done before the bread. I found a large pan and heated another burner. I grabbed some bacon and started placing them in the sizzling pan. I had 30 minutes left.

Suddenly the sound of a loud gasp caused me to freeze. I turned my head and saw the head of Hufflepuff enter the kitchens. Her eyes had zeroed in on me and I paled.

' _How do I explain this.'_ I mentally smacked myself, _'the same way I explained it to the elves.'_

She made her way across the kitchens to where I was standing. She didn't look upset or anything, just curious. That made me feel slightly better about my situation. I turned back to the bacon and flipped each piece over as she neared.

"I had heard from the house elves that a student was doing their jobs for them but I had paid that no heed because there were no students here." She said surprised. "Then I saw you this morning and decided to look into it."

I shrugged sheepishly and placed the bacon on a clean dish cloth to drip the grease onto. I then replaced the bacon with new strips.

"I don't normally allow this because it's dangerous but after doing some digging I learned the reason for this." Then she pointed at Toddled general direction. "Is there really nothing else you can do to relieve your anxiety?" I shook my head and she sighed. "As long as someone is supervising, I don't want you to get hurt." I nodded that was fair.

I looked over at Toddles. "Does Toddles count?" She blinked and thought about it.

"I suppose, this _is_ the house elves' line of work. So yes, I would think so."

She turned and called Toddles over and I finished the bacon and let it sit on the cloth. I checked on the sweet rolls and pulled them out to cool. The bread had twenty-five more minutes to bake.

"What exactly are you making?" Pomona asked. I turned to her and began explaining each dish. I began making the glaze to go on top of the sweet rolls while I explained. She followed along and I checked to make sure the sweet rolls were cool enough to glaze. I took them out of the pan and put them on a platter, gently pouring the glaze over each one evenly.

I handed her one and she took it and thanked me. I crushed the bacon into the soup and stirred it in. It smelled heavenly. This was and always would be my favorite soup. I replaced the lid and found Pomona watching me. She was still wearing that curious expression. I pulled out the bread when it was done and placed it on the stove top to cool. I turned everything off except the soup and turned back around.

"You know," Pomona started, "I really shouldn't mention this because first years aren't expected to take a lot of classes, however, we do have a Domestics class. I could speak to the teacher of that class for you."

My eyes widened in surprise. "You could- you could do that for me?" She smiled and I whooped. I loved Domestic classes, though, where I'm from we call them Home Ec. I checked the time and turned to her.

"We have five minutes before lunch, I have to go back." Toddles came over as if she knew it was time and I waved goodbye to Pomona. With a crack I was gone and back in my room. I thanked Toddles and went back to what I was doing before going to the kitchen. I cleaned up my mess and put my notebooks on the table beside my bed. I put my pencil box on top of that. I smiled, my room was spotless now.

I heard a soft hoot and turned with a wide smile. My owl sat perched atop the window sill and I pulled some treats out of a drawer in my bedside table and went over to it. I fed him the treats and gently pet his feathers. I still hadn't thought of a name for him. I paused.

' _No, I have'_ It was probably the most patriotic name I could think of.

"Hello George Washington." It gave an un-amused hoot at me and I chuckled. "Un-creative, I know, but I've no name that better suites you than George Washington. I'm drawing a blank."

There was a soft knock on my door and I sighed. I'd better get this over with.

* * *

Lunch was a mostly uneventful affair and I sat in my room again just staring at the ceiling for no good reason. I turned over and wiggled my sock-covered toes under the soft blanket. It was really tempting to take a nap, gorging on coffee could only do so much. That, and a bed this soft and warm would be the death of me.

I had learned that the rest of the students would arrive in two weeks via train. September first. Filius actually asked me if I wanted to go on the train and it was also very tempting. I'm not gonna lie, where I lived, travelling by train wasn't likely. I've never been on one before. It was pretty exciting.

I pulled my pillow close to my chest and tried not to close my eyes. I fully intended to take him up on that offer.

Meanwhile I turned over and tried making myself as uncomfortable as possible. I looked around my room. _'What could I do for the next six hours?'_

' _I remembered disliking studying in my world, but… this world had really interesting subjects, I could do that.'_

I got off my bed and went over to my trunk. I opened it and looked through my books. They all looked really interesting. I went with my potions book, it was almost the same as cooking so I'd likely take to that faster than the others. I left the lid open on my trunk in case I wanted to switch it out for something else.

I grabbed an empty notebook to take notes in and began.

I was so engrossed in my book I almost used up all my time. I had fifteen minutes before dinner. I didn't even bother to put my books back when Toddles appeared in my room with a loud crack. I panicked and brought everything with me.

As soon as we were in the kitchen I set them down and began placing the bread back into the oven to warm. Toddles had long ago told me where to put the food and I began dishing out the soup into large bowls. I placed them on mine and Filius' place on the main table and arranged the sweet rolls on a platter in front of that. I pulled the now warm bread out and removed it from the pan. I sliced that and put the slices on their own plate and put that next to the sweet rolls. I put the roasted pumpkin seeds in a bowl and salted them. The elves plated the table everywhere else and I smiled brightly in my accomplishment. Toddles found me and quickly took me and my books back to my room and soon I was alone again. I waited for Filius and continued to read my book.

I heard footsteps come toward my door and surprised Filius again by opening the door before he could knock. I forgot to leave my school books behind so as we walked down to the Great Hall I held them to my chest. The portraits were still surprised to see me but weren't whispering anymore.

We walked down several staircases, two of which moved. Eventually we reached the Great Hall and entered. There were already a few people here. One of which was the Headmaster. He watched us with a calculating gaze hidden behind half-moon spectacles and a twinkle. I was always suspicious of old people with twinkly eyes.

We took our seats and I moved my books in a spot I knew nothing would appear on it. I began working on my notes and listened to Filius chatter away with McGonagall again. Filius was giving me some space outside of meal times, I was thankful. I was still grieving my own loss. _'I was able to cook though, that was a plus. I had relieved a lot of stress with that.'_

Finally, food appeared upon the table. Of course, it was noticeable that ours was different. I saw Pomona hide a small smile behind one hand as she filled her plate. Filius seemed surprised before he turned mid-conversation and raised an eyebrow in my direction. I shrugged. He continued his conversation and prepared to eat. I had already started eating. I had the bowl of seeds and I ate a couple. I didn't salt all of them, I planned on them being a treat for George.

I ate my soup with the biggest smile I could muster. It had been awhile since I had had Loaded baked potato soup. I heard Filius gasp and pretended not to notice as I drew a picture of bat wings on my paper with lines leading to their properties and uses.

=What is it Filius?= I heard McGonagall mutter. =Are you alright?= I looked up in concern and blushed at the look of praise on Filius' face as he turned toward me. I went back to work and listened.

=I'm perfectly fine, why this soup is absolutely wonderful!= I felt my face heat up even more. Botar and my little sister would praise my cooking all the time but I was used to it, this was new. I finished my bread slice by rolling it up and dipping it into the soup. The thick, cheesy soup gripped to the bread like sauce.

=It's good.= I said softly and ate another spoonful. I glanced at Pomona who was trying not to laugh, I could see her shoulders shaking. I finished before Filius did and snuck a small bowl of the unsalted seeds for George. That night I told Filius my decision to take the train to Hogwarts.

I once again lay there staring at the ceiling. I was tired, this time I might sleep. I closed my eyes. Things were looking up, and to think just a couple days ago I had died.

* * *

 **I know the description is small so I'll add a bit here:**

 **Dumbledore is smart, powerful, manipulative. He isn't going to appear to be a senile old man. He'll be strategic. That's all I'll say, I don't want to ruin anything. :)**

 **I'm pleased with the length of this story so far, I've kept it mostly consistent. If I want to make the chapters longer it'll take more time though. This chapter ended up really long though, and in a shorter time than the others. This should be posted on Friday but it may take longer.**

 **Anyway, Reviews are always welcome! They help me become a better writer, even if you read the first sentence and don't like it anything helps.**

 **~.N.B.~**


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